This genealogy of the Thomas Webster family comes from a four volume set of genealogy research compiled in the early 1900s. Each generation is shown in parentheses ( ). Begin with one individual and continue that line through the furthest generation currently known before starting a new descendancy for the next sibling. This method keeps each family group intact, while presenting the families of siblings separately but under the same generational number.
This is one of the most distinguished names in the annals of New Hampshire, having been especially honored by that distinguished patriot and statesman, Daniel Webster. It has furnished many good citizens, who, though not nationally known, like their compatriot and relative, have supported the cause of human liberty in all struggles, and performed well their part in the various walks of life.
(I) Thomas Webster, first known ancestor of the New Hampshire family, resided with his wife Margaret in Ormsby, Norfolk county, England, where he died in April, 1634. His widow subsequently married William Godfrey, with whom she came to America, bringing her son, Thomas Webster (2).
(II) Thomas Webster (2), son of Thomas (1) and Margaret Webster, was born in November, 1631, in Ormsby, England, and came to Watertown, Massachusetts, in company with his foster father and other early settlers of that town. He removed with the pioneers to Hampton, New Hampshire, where he died January 5, 1715, aged eighty-three years. He was married, November 2, 1656, to Sarah, daughter of Thomas Brewer, of Roxbury, Massachusetts, and had the following children: Mary, Sarah, Hannah, Thomas, Ebenezer, Isaac, John, Joshua and Abigail. (Mention of Ebenezer and John, with descendants, is a feature of this article.)
(III) Ebenezer Webster, fifth child and second son of Thomas (2) and Sarah (Brewer) Webster, was born August 1, 1667. He served in the Indian war, and was pilot to Captain Gilman’s company, August, 1710, which went in pursuit of Indians. He was one of the proprietors of Kingston, New Hampshire, and a settler there. He married, July 25, 1709, Hannah Judkins, who died February 21, 1756. Their children were: Rachel, Susannah, Ebenezer, William, John, Hannah, and Mary and Joseph, twins.
(IV) Ebenezer Webster (2), third child and eldest son of Ebenezer (1) and Hannah (Judkins) Webster, was born October 10, 1714, and lived in Kingston, where he was identified with the clearing up of that portion of the wilderness. He married, July 20, 1738, Susannah Batchelder (See Batchelder, V), of Hampton.
(V) Ebenezer Webster (3), son of Ebenezer (2) and Susannah (Batchelder) Webster, was born April 22, 1739, in Kingston. Here he grew up without a day’s schooling, knowing almost nothing of books, but fully equipped to fulfill the mission of life on the frontier of civilization, where strong bodies, sound sense, and courage were required to cope with physical impediments, want of learning, and the lurking foe that haunted the hundreds of miles of unbroken wilderness which lay between his home and the French settlements in Canada. He came of age during the great French war, and about 1760 enlisted in the then famous corps known as “Rogers’ Rangers.” In the dangers and successes of desperate fighting, the “Rangers” had no equal; and of their hard and perilous experience in the wilderness in conflict with Indians and Frenchmen, Ebenezer Webster, strong in body and daring in temperament, had his full share. He served under General Jeffrey Amherst in the French war, and returned to his native town with the rank of captain. After eleven years spent in clearing his farm, in the northernmost part of Salisbury, where he settled in 1763, there being no white man’s abode between him and Montreal, the Revolution broke out, and Ebenezer raised a company of two hundred men and marched at their head to join the forces at Boston. At Dorchester, Washington consulted him about the state of feelings in New Hampshire. He served at White Plains, and at Bennington was one of the first to scale the breastwork, and came out of the battle with his swarthy skin so blackened with dust and gunpowder that he could scarcely be recognized. He was at West Point at the time of the discovery of Arnold’s treason, and when on guard before the general’s tent Washington said to him, “Captain Webster, I believe I can trust you!” That was the sentiment ever felt by those who knew him. He was uneducated and silent, but strong and unquestionably trustworthy. His services brought him the rank of colonel. After the war he returned to his farm, and his neighbors elected him to every office within their gift, including the offices of representative, state senator, and judge of the common pleas court, of Hillsborough county. This last office he held from 1791 until his death, which occurred April 14, 1816. Judge Webster filled one other office, in the performance of whose duties he probably derived more pleasure than from any other. He was one of the electors of the president in New Hampshire, when Washington was chosen to that office. In the intervals of his toilsome and adventurous life, he had picked up a little booklore, but the lack of more barred the way to higher honors, which would otherwise have been easily his.
Ebenezer Webster married, January 18, 1761, Mehitable Smith, born at Kingston, and who died March 28, 1774. Of this marriage there were five children: Olive, a daughter, and Ebenezer, a son, who died young; Susannah, born October, 1766, married John Colby; David, a farmer who reared a large family, and died at Stanstead, Canada; and Joseph, who died in 1810. Mr. Webster married (second), October 13, 1774, Abigail Eastman (See Eastman), in Salisbury, New Hampshire, who was born July 10, 1737, and died April 14, 1816. Her father was Thomas Eastman. The children of the second marriage were: Mehitable, Abigail, Ezekiel, Daniel and Sarah. Mehitable died unmarried. Abigail married a Mr. Haddock. Ezekiel and Daniel are mentioned below. Sarah married Colonel Ebenezer Webster, of Hill. (See Webster, second family, VII.)
(VI) Ezekiel Webster, third child and eldest son of Colonel Ebenezer and Abigail (Eastman) Webster, was born in the log house of his father in Salisbury, April 11, 1780, and died in Concord, March 10, 1829. After various struggles with poverty, he graduated from Dartmouth College in August, 1804. For a time he taught school, and read law in Boston, but in the autumn of 1807 he took charge of the paternal farm, his father having died in 1806, and in conjunction with Daniel assumed the support of his mother and sisters. He was admitted to the bar in September, 1807, and succeeded to the business of his brother Daniel, in Boscawen, when the latter moved to Portsmouth. Although intellectually not the equal of his gifted brother, Ezekiel Webster was one of the leading men of the state, and an uncompromising Federalist. Had he been less rigid in his political belief, he might easily have been elected to congress, but he would never compromise principle. He dropped dead March 10, 1829, at Concord, while addressing a jury in the court house. “He was a man of high talent, much professional learning, and great solidity of character.” From their earliest youth Daniel depended on Ezekiel’s sound judgment while he lived. “He has been my reliance through life,” was the testimony borne of the elder by the younger brother. He married (first), January 15, 1809, Alice Bridge, of Billerica, Massachusetts, who died in 1821. He married (second), August 2, 1825, Achsah Pollard, born at Dunstable (now Nashua). Two children were born to Mr. Webster: Alice, married (first), June 1, 1836, Professor Jarvis Gregg, the first preceptor of Boscawen Academy, and after his death Rev. George Whipper, of Oberlin, Ohio. She died March 6, 1876. Mary, married, December 11, 1837, Professor Edwin D. Sanborn, LL.D., of Dartmouth College. She died December 30, 1864.
(VI) Daniel Webster, fourth child and second son of Ebenezer and Abigail (Eastman) Webster, was born in a “frame” house, near the original log house of Ebenezer, in Salisbury, January 18, 1782. About a year after the birth of Daniel, his father removed to what has since been called the “Elms Farm,” situated in the present town of Franklin, and here Daniel grew to manhood. He was a sickly child, and had but limited educational advantages in childhood. He was a few months at Phillips Academy, Exeter, New Hampshire, hastily completed his preparation for college as the private pupil of Rev. Samuel Wood, of Boscawen, and in 1799 entered Dartmouth College, where he partially supported himself by teaching in winter and by local newspaper work. He soon made up the deficiencies of his earlier education, distinguishing himself as a debater in the college societies, and became the foremost scholar in the institution. Graduating in August, 1801, he commenced the study of law in the office of Thomas W. Thompson, Esq., a lawyer of Salisbury, his father’s neighbor and friend. While reading his law course, he also read a great deal of general literature, and filled up his leisure hours with dog and gun and fishing-rod. In order to obtain means to keep his brother Ezekiel in college, Daniel pursued the study of law but four months before going out as a wage-earner. He was offered and at once accepted the charge of an academy in Fryeburg, Maine, where he was to receive one hundred and seventy-five dollars for six months’ labor. Four evenings each week he copied deeds for the registrar of the county, earning by this means two dollars a week, which paid his board. His serious and high-toned deportment, and his success as a teacher, secured him many friends; he was offered a large increase in salary, and could have been clerk of the common pleas court, but the mysterious power which operates unconsciously upon men of great intellect in their youth, leading them toward the destiny which genius creates for them, took him away from Fryeburg and back to the law office, where he remained until February or March, 1804, and then went to Boston, Massachusetts. He there entered the office of Hon. Christopher Gore, afterward governor of Massachusetts, where he remained from July until the following February, and was admitted to practice in March, 1805. Soon afterward he established himself in the village of Boscawen, New Hampshire, and began his professional practice, spending the next two and a half years at that place. In May, 1807, he was admitted as a counsellor in the supreme court of New Hampshire, and soon after removed to Portsmouth, where he at once took rank as a leading lawyer. In 1812 Mr. Webster was nominated as a representative to the thirteenth congress, to which he was subsequently elected, and in which he took his seat on the 24th of May, 1813. He succeeded to the office in the fourteenth congress. After a residence of nine years in Portsmouth, he removed to Boston, 1816, and for several years devoted himself to his profession. In 1822 he was almost unanimously elected to congress to represent the district of Suffolk. He was re-elected in 1824, and in 1826 as the representative of the Boston district. In June, 1827, he was chosen United States senator. At the end of his term he was re-elected, and continued in office by re-election until 1841, when he resigned to become secretary of state in General Harrison’s cabinet, a position he held till the 8th of May, 1843, when he resigned and retired to his home at Marshfield. In the winter of 1844-45 Mr. Webster was again elected to the senate of the United States by the legislature of Massachusetts to fill the vacancy occasioned by the resignation of Mr. Choate. Immediately after the accession of Mr. Fillmore to the presidency, he offered the department of state to Mr. Webster, and a second time Mr. Webster resigned his seat in the senate, to accept the place, which he held until his death, October 24, 1852. Mr. Webster’s offices were not all great offices. He was a member of the Massachusetts constitutional convention, and gave it the benefit of his great knowledge of constitutional questions. He was once a presidential elector, and also sat ten days in the Massachusetts legislature. The above mere enumeration of the places Mr. Webster filled is all that the scope of this article permits. The writing of details has been left to his biographers. His forensic ability, his exalted statesmanship, his knowledge of constitutional law, his wonderful influence over men, and his illustrious record in general, are too well known to need mention here.
Daniel Webster married in Salisbury, May 29, 1808, Grace Fletcher, born January 16, 1781, daughter of Rev. Elijah Fletcher, of Hopkinton, New Hampshire. She died in New York while on the way to Washington with her husband, January 12, 1828. They were the parents of five children: Grace Fletcher, the eldest child, died young. Daniel Fletcher, born July 23, 1813, was a colonel in the Twelfth Massachusetts Volunteer Militia, and fell in the service of his country, August 30, 1862. Julia, married, September 24, 1839, Samuel A. Appleton, a member of the Boston family of that name, and died April 28, 1848. Edward died of disease while serving in the Mexican war. Charles died in infancy. In December, 1832, Mr. Webster married in New York, Caroline Bayard Leroy, second daughter of Herman Leroy, a wealthy merchant, descended from one of the early settlers of New York.
(III) John Webster, fourth son and seventh child of Thomas (2) and Sarah (Brewer) Webster, was born February 16, 1674, in Hampton, and settled in Rye, where he passed his life as a farmer. He was married September 21, 1703, to Abiah Shaw, and they were the parents of the following children: Jeremiah, Charity and Josiah (twins, the first of whom died young), John, Thomas, Caleb, Abiah, Elizabeth and Charity. (Mention of Josiah, John and Thomas and descendants follows in this article.)
(IV) Jeremiah Webster, eldest child of John and Abiah (Shaw) Webster, was born December 21, 1704, in Hampton. He was among the few of the original grantees of Stevenstown (1749), now Salisbury, New Hampshire, who settled with their families. Most of the grantees did not remove to the town. At the first meeting of the proprietors it was voted that “Jeremy Webster shall be the surveyor to assist and join with the s’d com’te in laying out the land, as above s’d.” In 1760, at a meeting of the proprietors, Jeremy Webster was moderator.
(V) Jeremiah Webster (2), son of Jeremiah (1) Webster, was a prominent man in the early settlement of Salisbury. He came previous to 1769, and settled on the site now occupied by Phineas Clough. He married, June 9, 1774, Anne Sleeper, who died January 10, 1841, aged eighty-six years. He died March 4, 1817, aged seventy-four years.
(VI) Jeremy Webster (3), son of Jeremiah (2) and Anne (Sleeper) Webster, was born June 19, 1775. He built the Clough House and was a famous singing master. He married Phebe Wardwell. He died August 20, 1841, and she January 20, 1847. Their children were: Amos, born November 24, 1801, died August 30, 1821. James R., March 20, 1804, removed to Georgia, where he died September, 1841. Phebe, March 4, 1806, married Hubbard Hutchinson, of Merrimack, and died in that town. Nathaniel F., March 4, 1808. Mary A., May 20, 1810, married (first) Joshua Burpee, of Boscawen, and (second) Samuel Gilman, of Lake Village [1]now Lakeport, where she died about 1850. Joseph W., November 12, 1812, a merchant of Savannah, Georgia, where he died March, 1860. Emily, December 20, 1815, died February 26, 1838. Elizabeth, August 28, 1818, died June 10, 1839, unmarried. Eliphalet, January 4, 1821, died January 16, 1822. Amos E., September 17, 1828, died in Georgia, August, 1860, where he married Eliza Savage.
(VII) Nathaniel F. Webster, third son and fourth child of Jeremy and Phebe (Wardwell) Webster, was born in Salisbury, New Hampshire, March 4, 1808, died in Georgia, September 24, 1854. He married Miriam Couch, daughter of John and Lydia Ann (Bean) Couch, of Salisbury, who married (second), Jonas Merriam; she was born March 11, 1810, and died April 6, 1887. The issue of this marriage was one child, John Francis Webster, born November 18, 1837. In 1842 or 1843 Nathaniel F. Webster, who was a cabinetmaker by trade, went to the state of Georgia and became a partner with Isaac W. Morrill, of Savannah, under the firm name of Isaac W. Morrill & Company, wholesale and retail furniture and pianos. Mr. Webster’s three brothers, James R., Joseph W. and Amos E., also settled in Savannah. James R. and Joseph W. were partners in the wholesale grocery business, and Amos was a bookkeeper. Nathaniel Webster was prosperous in business and became a man of means. It was his custom to send his wife and son north in the summer, and join them in the fall when he went north to buy goods. In the summer of 1854, while the wife and son were absent, Mr. Webster was attacked by yellow fever, and died September 24, aged forty-six years. Mrs. Webster survived until April 6, 1887, dying in Concord at the age of seventy-seven years.
(VIII) John Francis Webster, only child of Nathaniel F. and Miriam (Couch) Webster, was born in Dorchester, Massachusetts, November 18, 1837. His education began when he was about seven years old, and he attended Chatham Academy, at Savannah, Georgia, till he was seventeen years old. Subsequently he attended Professor Barnes’ Academy at Concord, obtaining a commercial education with Rodney G. Cutting. He began his business life with the hardware firm of Moore, Cilley & Company, where he remained a year. He then entered the employ of the Concord Railroad Corporation, assuming the duties of way-bill clerk, March 14, 1857. In one month he was promoted to local freight cashier, filling that position till 1862, when he was made chief clerk of the general freight office of the road. May 1, 1865, he was appointed cashier of the Concord Railroad system, and retained that position until September, 1889. He was appointed cashier of the Manchester & Lawrence railroad, August 1, 1867, and remained with that company until its absorption by the Boston & Maine railroad. When the Concord railroad and the Boston, Concord & Montreal railroad united, forming the Concord & Montreal, September, 1889, he was then elected treasurer, a position he has ever since held. Mr. Webster was elected as a Republican to the state legislature in 1889, representing ward 4, and serving as chairman of the finance committee. Besides being treasurer of the Concord & Montreal railroad, Mr. Webster fills a similar position for the Mount Washington Railway Company, the Nashua, Acton & Boston railroad, New Boston railroad, and is assistant treasurer of the Boston & Maine railroad. Mr. Webster is a trustee of the Loan & Trust Savings Bank and a director in the Mechanics’ National Bank. Mr. Webster became a Mason in the year 1866, and is now a thirty-third degree member in that order. He has held almost every office in the gift of his jurisdiction, and is one of the most prominent members of the Masonic fraternity in the Granite state.
June 18, 1856, Mr. Webster married Mary J. Cutting, daughter of Gilman and Eliza (Davidson) Cutting, of Concord. She was born September 10, 1837, and died November 23, 1893. The children of this marriage are: Jennie Margaret, born October 20, 1857, married Edward E. Brown, of Concord, superintendent of the William B. Durgin Silverware Manufacturing Company. She died January 16, 1905. Clara H., born July 24, 1860, married Joseph Swett Matthews, a native of Franklin, now an attorney in Concord. Jessie Marion, born November 13, 1865, single, at home. Frances May, born November 9, 1867, married Frederick L. Richardson, of Concord, clerk in the Manchester Savings Bank. All the daughters are graduates of the Concord schools. Mr. Webster married (second), February 6, 1897, Stella Hutchinson, of Manchester, daughter of Hubbard and Phebe (Webster) Hutchinson, of Merrimack, New Hampshire. That Mr. Webster has served one corporation and its successors continuously for almost half a century, and has risen step by step to his present place of responsibility and trust, leaves no occasion for comment on his ability as an officer and his integrity as a man.
(IV) Josiah Webster, second son of John and Abiah (Shaw) Webster, was born April 2, 1706. His twin sister died soon after they were born. He resided in Rye, New Hampshire, where he died March 11, 1764, in his fifty-eighth year. He was married September 21, 1738, to Patty Goss, given in the vital records of New Hampshire as Martha Goss. She was born September 9, 1714, daughter of Richard and Martha Goss, one of the first settlers of Greenland, New Hampshire. She died November 18, 1798, having survived her husband nearly thirty-five years. Their children were: John (died young), Elizabeth, Abiah, Sarah, Josiah (died young), John, Richard, Martha and Josiah.
(V) Richard Webster, fourth son and seventh child of Josiah and Martha or Patty (Goss) Webster, was born January 1, 1754, in Rye, and died in that town, January 16, 1836. He was a soldier of the Revolutionary war, and served under Captain Parker at Fort Sullivan, and Captain Parsons in Rhode Island. He was also engaged in several privateering cruises. He was married October 29, 1778, to Elizabeth Randall, who died March 14, 1826, at the age of seventy-one years. Their children were: Betsy, Abigail, Martha, Sarah, Hannah, Olive, Richard and Mark Randall.
(VI) Richard Webster (2), elder son and seventh child of Richard (1) and Elizabeth (Randall) Webster, was born October 6, 1788, in Rye, and resided in Epsom and Rye. He was a shoemaker by occupation, and after working at his trade some time in Epsom returned to Rye, but had taught school in Rye previous to his going to Epsom. He also engaged in farming in Rye, in which he was successful and continued until shortly before his death, which occurred November 1, 1856, in Portsmouth. He was married in 1813, to Mary Philbrick, who was born February 5, 1792, in Rye, daughter of Joses and Sarah (Smith) Philbrick, of that town. Their children were: Daniel, Roswell, Mary, Sarah Ann, Ursula, Benjamin F., David S., Richard, Emily J., John P.
(VII) Benjamin Franklin Webster, third son and sixth child of Richard (2) and Mary or Polly (Philbrick) Webster, was born September 7, 1824, in Epsom, New Hampshire, and received his primary education in the public schools of that town. He was also a student at Pembroke and in Rye. At the age of seventeen years he went to Portsmouth and was employed by Benjamin Norton as an apprentice to the carpenter’s trade. He was a ship joiner for several years and since then has been engaged in building operations in Portsmouth. Through his perseverance and great industry, coupled with upright business methods, he has been prosperous down to the present time. His operations have included the erection of the following notable buildings: The Kearsarge House, the Cabot Street school house, remodeled three churches, also built many residences. Mr. Webster partakes of the characteristics for which his long line of ancestry has been noted, and is a progressive and useful citizen of his home town. He is frequently called upon to fill official positions, and has served as ward clerk and assessor. In politics, he is an ardent and enthusiastic Republican. He is a valued member of the Masonic fraternity, in which he has attained the thirty-second degree. He was married, January 2, 1849, to Sarah A. Senter, and they have a son and daughter, Merit V. and Stella C. Webster.
(IV) John Webster (2), third son and fourth child of John (1) and Abiah (Shaw) Webster, was born February 10, 1712, in Hampton, and settled in Hampstead, New Hampshire, where he died February 11, 1780. His wife was Elizabeth Lunt, who survived him and passed away September 9, 1785, in her seventy-sixth year. Their children were: Elizabeth, John, Mary, Ann and Caleb.
(V) Mary Webster, second daughter and third child of John and Elizabeth (Lunt) Webster, was born March 20, 1747, and became the wife of Moody Chase. (See Chase, VIII).
(IV) Thomas Webster (3), fourth son and fifth child of John and Abiah (Shaw) Webster, was born July 1, 1715, in Hampton, and settled in Haverhill, Massachusetts. The poll lists of that town show him to have been a resident of the west parish in 1745. He was on the alarm list for the French and Indian war, which was established April 14, 1757, and was deacon of the church from 1771 to 1782.
(V) Thomas Webster (4), son of Thomas (3) Webster, was born in August, 1767, in Haverhill, where he read medicine with Dr. Brickett, and began practice in 1790. Three years later he moved to Warner, New Hampshire, where he continued in practice for a period of seventeen years, with gratifying success, and endeared himself to the people. In 1810 he removed to Sanbornton, this state, and was noted there for his success in healing, though his career was soon cut off by death. An epidemic of spotted fever raged through the state in 1813, and Dr. Webster was noted as having lost not a single case of the disease treated by him, though he fell a victim to its ravages. While visiting patients at Laconia he was stricken, and died there within forty hours of the attack, August 8, 1813. Thus was a most brilliant career suddenly closed, and the state sustained a great loss. His wife, Sarah West, of Haverhill, Massachusetts, died April 3, 1830, in Claremont, this state. Their children are noted as follows: Thomas, lived and died in Sanbornton. William West, died in Windsor, Vermont. Sarah, became the wife of John Hitchcock, and died in Hanover, New Hampshire. Pamelia, married a man named Marsh, and resided in the West. Edwin, died young. Arthur settled in Minnesota, where he died. Charles Henry, died at Center Harbor, this state. Mary S.
(VI) Mary S. Webster, youngest child of Dr. Thomas (4) and Sarah (West) Webster, was born July 20, 1807, in Warner, and was married November 12, 1840, to John Tyler, of Claremont. (See Tyler, VII).
Source
Stearns, Ezra S., Genealogical and family history of the state of New Hampshire : a record of the achievements of her people in the making of a commonwealth and the founding of a nation, 4 vols., New York : Lewis Publishing Co., 1908.
References
| ↑1 | now Lakeport |
|---|